Hey everyone! I am thinking about purchasing a xbox and want to mod it out. Trying to decide between SmartXX V2.0 ModChip and SpiderMod Chip... what is better? My dvd burner uses only dvd+r... is that ok for this? Also, I use dvd decryptor for my movies, should i use it to burn the xbox games too? Thanks for the advice.... have a good one!

If you don't have any special purposes for your box (besides using unsigned software) both chips are fine. The SmartXX chip has 4MB of space for different bioses, but the Spiderchip does not require soldering.

If I had to choose between these two chips, I'd go for the SmartXX chip because I don't like solderless solutions. Although it sounds nice, moving your Xbox might cause a loose leg (=wire) and you really don't want that.

For regular users, the SmartXX chips are somewhat overkill. They'll do fine, but it's like putting a Ferrari engine in a mawn lower. Personally I find most cheapmods (like the Aladdin chips) quite alright; they provide the basic functionality most users require and come for a fair price.

To burn XBOX games, you first need to create XBOX images. Software like Craxtion or Qwix (both free) can do this. After the image has been created, DVDDecrypter can be used to write the created image file to disk.

If there are any questions left, feel free to answer. And before I forget: be welcome!

Thanks a lot Dee-ehn for the information. My only concern about the solderless units is damage to the xbox. How difficult is it to solder the chip to the xbox? I've read up and found that you have to download the game to the xbox HD and then to the pc. How exactly is this done?

If you have zero soldering experience, you'll need to practice, (just find an old PCB and go nuts til your happy) but its not that hard. I'm biased towards the xecuter v3 mod-chip only because I have one, its intensive to install, but the guides at xbox-scene.com are great. Check the link in my sig for the alcohol xbox backup tutorial.

How much would an Alladin Chip cost me? Should I stay away from the solderless mod chips all together?

theres always the free option, softmodding it, provided you don't want to play it on xbox live of course. To backup a game you copy it to the hard drive of the xbox (using dvd2xbox say) and then use a pc program called qwix to patch the xbe and then make an iso of it, then use dvd decrypter to burn it. By the way yes your burner should be fine, make sure to set the booktype setting to dvd-rom. What xbox dvd drive do you have? Look here to find out http://llamma.com/xbox/Repairs/xbox_...comparison.htm

edit reason* bloody hell i can't spell

I suggest Xecuter 3 or the SmartXX. If you don't got enough money u can get one free at freemodz.com. Great place to order is http://gameshopusa.com with the coupon code "freemodz" for $5 off.

If you want a simple chip with solderless solution, you can solder one wire on the SmartXX to the chip itself and use a pogo adapter to make a solderless solution. But if you are going to customize everything, I would go with the Xecuter3 chip with the xapt3r(solderless adapter for Xecuter3). If you want to help me out, you can use my referral link for that free modchip site. http://freemodz.com/

The DVD burner I have doesn't look like any of the listed. It is a HP burner 8x and it came with my computer.

the link i gave you was for your xbox dvd drive, look at the pic on the link and look at your xbox drive and post what kind it is.

bump, its free except for the hard drive but ITS GREAT. I love my xenterainmentbox. I have movies, games, music, everything on it. VERY FUNN

Edit, xbl sucks xbc is free and FUNN

Did you pick wich chip to go with?

i heard the xbox's after june 2004 are really hard to install chips in? my friend did mine but mine is old ... he tried to do one of the new ones and it messed up

He either didnt follow the solder guide correctly or used the wrong BIOS/Dashboard install. v1.0-1.5 xbox's can use the same BIOS/Dash install, whereas the 1.6/1.6b uses different BIOS/Dash install, incorrect usage will kill your xbox. Depending on chip also different versions can have different solder points and may use extras (or not) that come with the chip. The most important thing to do before any xbox work is identify your xbox version, and not by its serial.